I have a confession to make. I love the month of October. If not my favourite month, it certainly rests within the top three of my favourite months. Oh, I know that it is a harbinger of what is to come, the cold and snow and ice, and all those things which we love to moan about. But it tends to be the best time for football. The CFL is nearing its zenith, the NFL is beginning to sort the best from the worst, and university and college football is sorting the wheat from the chaff.
Speaking of which, I enjoy drives in the country in October. If the harvest is not complete, it is nearing completion, especially when we have weather like we have enjoyed this autumn. My thoughts tend to stray to how different farming is today from the “early” years. I think about James Isbister, growing crops with his family on fields in what is now the west flat of Prince Albert, and then hauling the wheat by cart all the way to the Red River (Winnipeg) to be milled. I think about how in 1868, the land where the Arts Centre and City Hall now stand was a field of grain. Wheat varieties and equipment is so much different now than in those days, as is the life of the farmer. But like then, farmers of today are still dependent upon the weather and other enemies such as invasive disease and scavenging animals.
Farmers tend to rely more on mechanization today than the did in the early years of settlement. So many community histories record how crews of men and even young boys moved from farm to farm, assisting one another is “getting the crop off”. These same community histories often record how this farmer or that farmer was the first in the area to own a threshing machine or some other piece of equipment which increased efficiency on the farm, and how these owners often paid for these machines, not only using them on their own properties but also by charging other farmers as they used the equipment to harvest their crops.
All these people who worked so hard to bring in the crop needed to be fed. The women, many of whom also worked in the field, were mainly responsible for providing food and beverages for the harvest crews. Food was prepared and carried out to the field during the day, and at day’s end suppers consisting of beef, chicken, turkey and ham, along with mounds of potatoes, carrots and turnip, were served up on tables sagging with the weight of it all. People crowded around the tables, often set up in the barn, feasting on the delicious offerings before heading off to sleep in preparation for another busy day in the fields. Dependent upon the ethnicity of the family whose crop was being harvested, you would likely have some of their particular foods included. Many of the farms in this area would have borsch, vareneky, holubtsi, and syrnyky, while others might serve Scandinavian or German specialties.
I suspect that the ability to prepare such harvest meals for so many people led these women to recognize the opportunity to raise a few dollars for required community resources, such as community halls, and that this was the prelude to today’s fall suppers. Although fewer in number since the Covid pandemic, people still flock to such suppers when they learn about them.
Giving thanks for the completion of the harvest led to parochial and religious celebrations. The last harvest supper on a farm would often lead to a good old fashioned barn dance. The tables cleared away, those who had instruments would tune them, and the dance would commence. I wonder how many farm families formed an alliance with a neighbour family as a result of such dances?
Churches also celebrated the end of the harvest. A special Sunday would be set aside for such a celebration. The church would be decorated with wheat sheaves, garden produce, and often a loaf of bread and grapes (when available) on the altar. Prayers and hymns of thanksgiving were offered, with the produce being presented after the service to the officiating minister or members of the congregation who, for one reason or another, were in need.
It is interesting to note that the first celebration of Thanksgiving in North America occurred in what is now Canada, in Nunavut, in an area then considered to be Newfoundland. Sir Martin Frobisher and his crew participated in a feast of thanksgiving to celebrate their safe arrival in the New World. This occurred in 1578, nearly a half century before the pilgrims held their first celebration in Plymouth, Massachusetts, and Samuel Champlain led French colonists in what is now Quebec in a similar celebration in 1614.
Sporadic thanksgiving celebrations occurred in what is now Canada between then and the end of the War of 1812, with even more frequent celebrations occurring after the union of Upper and Lower Canada in 1841. It was not until April 15th, 1872, that the first official Thanksgiving Day was celebrated in Canada, until in 1879 when it became an official national holiday. The date upon which it was celebrated varied, however, between the months of October and November until a Proclamation of Parliament in 1957 declared that it would be held on the second Monday in October. This ensured that Thanksgiving Day was separated from Armistice (Remembrance) Day which was at that time celebrated on the first Monday of the week of November 11th.
One of the more memorable stories I read in our collection of community histories was from I Remember When…Star City. Gerald and Evelyn Guy had decided that they were ready to settle down and moved their effects, hoping to rent a farm. They unloaded in Brooksby on a cold Thanksgiving Day in 1937.
I imagine that they were very thankful that day, and hope that they had many more days of thanksgiving after that move. I should ask their son Harold if that is so.
Regardless of how you celebrated Thanksgiving Day this week, moving into a new home or simply doing some last minute yard work, I hope that you enjoyed the day, and that you found much for which to be thankful.
fgpayton@sasktel.net
